Copyright: SkiBear Help ® 1995, The Coca-Cola Company


Help Index
SkiBear® Help Contents

SkiBear is a screen-saver module for the Microsoft Windows environment.

Overview

System Requirements

Installation

Setup

Performance

Legal Notices


Overview

A Screen-Saver with Arctic Appeal!

Hanging around the North Pole with nothing to do but enjoy a nice cold bottle of "Coke" is a great life!  However, those happy-go-lucky Coca-Cola Polar Bears can't stand to sit still!  Hang on to your scarf as the Coca-Cola Polar Bears brave fierce snow and wind to fly through the air for your entertainment!

With The Coca-Cola SkiBear® screen-saver, you are in the starting gate!  You control the number of Coca-Cola Polar Bears, the amount of snow, the mountain background, and how fast these cuddly bears jump across your screen!

Sit back and enjoy!  The Coca-Cola Polar Bears are sure to bring a smile to your face!


System Requirements

SkiBear® requires Microsoft Windows 3.1 or greater.  Full installation requires approximately 260k of disk space.  For optimal results, a VGA monitor displaying at least 256 colors is recommended.

Due to the highly graphical nature of this screen saver, your PC's 'System Resources' must have at least 25 per cent free for the skiing bears to be displayed; otherwise, a minimal, 'StandBy' screen saver will appear.  This 'StandBy' saver simply blacks the screen and scrolls a multi-color message across the screen (it also provides the standard password protection).  You can check how much free System Resources you have by clicking the 'Help, About Program Manager...' menu item in the Windows Program Manager.


Installation

Installing your screen saver is easy, and requires three simple steps:

1)  Create a Temporary Directory

Your screen saver program should be initially stored into a temporary directory on your PC.

2)  Execute the INSTALL.BAT Program

Once you have stored the screen saver into its temporary directory, you should run the INSTALL.BAT program by selecting the File menu of your Windows Program Manager; select Run; then type in the directory name followed by INSTALL.BAT (for example, C:\TEMPDIR\INSTALL.BAT).

The program will prompt you for the name of your Windows directory; usually, it will be "WINDOWS".  Enter the name of your Windows directory.  INSTALL.BAT will copy the necessary files from the temporary directory to your Windows directory.

3)  Delete the Temporary Directory.

Once you have installed the screen saver, you may want to delete the directory, and the files in it.  This is not necessary; however, it will save disk space for you.

Once your screen saver program has been installed, it can be accessed via the Desktop applet of the Windows Control Panel by following these three steps:

1)  Load the Control Panel

The Control Panel is generally found in the Main group of your Program Manager.  Execute the Control Panel by double clicking the Control Panel icon.

If you cannot find the Main group or the Control Panel icon, you can run the control panel from the File Manager by double clicking CONTROL.EXE in your main Windows directory (usually called WINDOWS).

2)  Run the Desktop Option

To run the Desktop option of the control panel, double click the Desktop icon in the Control Panel.

3)  Select your Screen Saver

Use the 'Screen Saver' area of your Desktop screen to select your screen saver.  You may use the Test button to preview your screen saver, and the Setup button to change its attributes.


Setup

SkiBear® can be customized in several ways through the setup panel, via the following controls:

The Bears Group

- Number: sets the number of bears (not all are visible all the time - sometimes they have to adjust their skis!).

- Speed: controls how fast the bears ski, from very slow to very fast.

- Animation: changes how fast the bears change their appearance.

The Snowflakes Group

- Number: sets the number of snowflakes.

- Speed: controls both how fast the snowflakes fall, and how fast the wind blows them from left to right.

- Animation: changes how fast the snowflakes change their appearance.

The Mountains Group

- Scrolling: checking this box causes the mountain range in the background to move slowly from right to left, as if the viewer's position were moving.

The Password Group

- Password Protection: checking this box requires you to enter a password if the screen saver is interrupted (usually by clicking or moving the mouse, or by pressing a key on the keyboard).  Unchecking this box removes that requirement.

- Set Password: clicking this button allows you to change the screen-saver password.  (Note that this button is only enabled if the "Password Protection" checkbox is checked.)

The Pushbuttons

- Ok: clicking this button accepts the changes you have made and exits the setup panel.

- Cancel: clicking this button dumps your changes without saving them and exits the setup panel.

- Help... : clicking this button displays SkiBear's Windows help file (the file you are reading now).

- About: clicking this button displays information about SkiBear.

- Reset All to Defaults: clicking this button restores all the controls to their "factory default" settings.  This is handy if you want to return the screen-saver to its original setup.  Please note that this button has no effect on the password protection controls.


Performance

Several factors can affect the overall speed and smoothness of the screen-saver display, including your PC's hardware configuration, its software setup, and SkiBear's® configuration settings.  If the bears do not ski as quickly as you would like, you can try the following:

- reduce the number of bears and snowflakes.  The more crowded the screen gets, the slower everything moves.

- increase the speed of the bears.  This will cause them to ski faster, although at the cost of a little less smoothness.

- decrease the speed of the snowflakes.

Note that the "Mountains Scrolling" and "Animation" controls have no effect on the speed of the display.


Legal Notices

This software is distributed as "freeware" and may be copied or distributed freely.  This software is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind.  The Coca-Cola Company does not warrant, guarantee, or make any representations regarding the use, or the results of use, of the software in terms of correctness, accuracy, reliability, currentness, presence or absence of viruses or otherwise.  The entire risk as to the results and performance of the software is assumed by you.  If the software is defective, you assume the entire cost of all necessary servicing, repair, or correction.

Neither The Coca-Cola Company nor anyone else who has been involved in the creation, production, or delivery of this product shall be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental damages (including damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, and the like) arising out of the use or inability to use such product.

The SkiBear® program, the Polar Bears, and this help file, are the property of The Coca-Cola Company, copyright 1995.  All rights reserved.

"Windows" is a copyright of Microsoft Corp.